ENHANCING THE SEEDLING QUALITY OF SOME VEGETABLES THROUGH PRIMING WITH H2O2

Abstract

A study with four (4) independent experiments for four vegetable species was set at the Farm, Department of Horticulture, Hajee Mohammad Danesh Science and Technology University (HSTU), Dinajpur during April to June, 2017. The aims were to evaluate the physiological changes in the seeds of those four (4) vegetables primed with the aqueous solutions of H2O2 to find the suitable strength(s) of H2O2 as the priming material for their highest seedling quality. The seeds of those four vegetables obtained from Lal Teer Seed Limited, Bangladesh: country bean (cv. Ipsa-2), bitter gourd (cv. Taj 88), bottle gourd (cv. Kheti Lau) and yard long bean (cv. 1070) were used as the planting materials. Each experiment had eight (8) treatments: T1 (control/no priming), T2 (hydro-priming in plain H2O) and other six (6) aquatic solutions of H2O2:T3 (0.5), T4 (1), T5 (1.5), T6 (2), T7 (2.5) and T8 (3%). The seeds were soaked for 6 hours in those seven (7) media (T2 to T8). The seeds were sown in wooden seed flats filled in with sterilized coarse sand. The experiments were laid out in the Randomized Complete Block Design with three (3) replications. Data on the following 13 traits collected were: % germination, % abnormal seedlings, shoot length, root length, seedling length, shoot dry matter, root dry matter, seedling dry matter, number of secondary roots (>1cm) per seedling, number of true leaves per seedling, relative growth rate, seedling vigor index, and root : shoot ratio (dry weight basis). Except the first two traits, the rest were collected at 3 stages: 10, 20 and 30 days after sowing (DAS). It was lucid that H2O2 was significantly (P<5%) effective to improve most traits. But 1% concentration was most helpful for country bean and yard long bean while 1.5% for bottle gourd and bitter gourd seeds. Above 1.5%, others were toxic and hindered most parameters. However, further studies with different varieties of those four seed species with variable doses of H2O2, priming time and temperature could be explored before drawing valid conclusions.